Senator: America Needs “Idiot Control,” Not Gun Control Opposes measure to increase Fed role in background checks Steve Watson February 28, 2018
In an appearance on CNN Tuesday, GOP Senator John N. Kennedy (R., La.) railed against stricter gun control provisions, saying that America needs ‘idiot control’ rather than gun control.
CNN host John Berman questioned Kennedy regarding his stated opposition to legislation being considered in the Senate that would give federal agencies greater access to state records, in order to better determine the eligibility of a person to buy firearms.
The bill would offer greater federal funding to state agencies that comply, while withholding it from those that don’t.
“I don’t think we need more gun control laws,” Kennedy said.
“Not a single one?” Berman asked.
“No,” Kennedy declared. “I think we need more idiot control.”
When Berman asked Kennedy to expand on what he meant by the term ‘idiot’, the Senator stated that he was referring to violent criminals like the shooter in Parkland.
Kennedy said he was not referring to anyone with a mental illness, and that he may have “misused” the term in that context.
Kennedy then stated that violent criminals are too often assumed to be mentally ill when many are just plain “evil.”
The Senator noted that the mental stability of the Parkland shooter has not been properly determined at this stage.
“I don’t know that, so I will call him an idiot,” Kennedy said.